The present invention relates generally to health care furniture, and more particularly to health care seating units.
The advent of home health care has created a need for furniture that provides functional features for the patient as well as more conventional function for others. For example, chairs exist that are capable of reclining in a number of positions in the same manner as traditional, non-medical recliner chairs while being movable to a xe2x80x9cheart-restxe2x80x9d position (also known as the Trendellenburg position). The heart-rest position is one in which the occupant of the chair is postured such that his legs are elevated to a height equal to or above his heart, with the result that blood is encouraged to flow to the heart rather than pooling in the legs. This position is often used to treat shock (particularly during dialysis treatments).
One exemplary chair that combines reclining capability with the capacity to move to the heart-rest position is discussed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,367 to Mizelle. The Mizelle chair includes a relatively simple six-bar linkage system and can stop in any intermediate position between an upright and a fully reclined position. An attendant can then lift the front of the seat frame of the chair to bring the chair into a xe2x80x9cheart-restxe2x80x9d position in which the seat frame, back frame and leg rest assume xe2x80x9cthe position of a lounge chair that has been tilted approximately 45 degrees.xe2x80x9d Another exemplary chair, available from Lumex, Inc., utilizes a reclining mechanism from a conventional residential reclining chair. In this chair, the reclining mechanism is configured such that, once the chair is in a fully reclined position (i.e., one in which the backrest and seat have pivoted relative to one another so that the angle therebetween increases), a foot pedal can release the mechanism to continue its reclining motion, with the angle between the backrest and the seat continuing to increase. As a result, the heart-rest position of this chair provides a support surface in which mimics that of a hospital bed.
A reclining seating unit of the present invention can provide, in a conventional residential reclining chair, improved heart-rest capability. A seating unit of the present invention includes: a generally horizontally disposed seat; a pair of upright arms, each of the arms being positioned adjacent opposite sides of the seat and configured to rest on an underlying surface; a generally upright backrest positioned adjacent to a rear portion of the seat; at least one ottoman; and a pair of reclining mechanisms attached to the seat, arms, backrest and at least one ottoman, and a heart-rest mechanism pivotally interconnected with the reclining mechanisms. Each of the reclining mechanisms comprises a plurality of pivotally interconnected links, the links being configured and arranged such that the seating unit is movable between (a) an upright position, in which the seat is generally horizontally disposed, the backrest is generally upright and adjacent to and rearward of a rear portion of the seat and forms an upright angle with the seat, and the at least one ottoman is positioned below a forward portion of the seat, and (b) a fully reclined position, in which the at least one ottoman is positioned forwardly of the seat and the backrest forms a first fully reclined angle with the seat that is greater than the upright angle, and the seat forms a seat angle with the underlying surface. The heart-rest mechanism is configured so that the seating unit is movable between the fully reclined position and a heart-rest position in which the ottoman is disposed forwardly of the seat, the backrest forms a second fully reclined angle with the seat that is substantially the same as the first fully reclined angle, and the seat forms a heart-rest angle with the underlying surface that is greater than the seat angle. In this configuration, the seating unit can be moved quickly and easily to the heart-rest position in which the legs are well-elevated with little to no disturbance of the posture of the occupant.